One day Mrs Pollifax is practising her karate in her New Jersey apartment, then by the weekend she is being sent to Zambia on a safari. In addition to photos of lions and elephants, Mrs P is instructed to snap photos of her fellow tourists: one of them is suspected to be the legendary assassin Aristotle, and the CIA wants a photo of him to aid in a future arrest. However, Aristotle is camera shy, and makes short work of her film. Then a kidnapping further complicates her task...

This was a moderately exciting installment in the series. Mrs Pollifax is her usual charming self, and there are callbacks to her first two adventures. This is also the book where we meet retired judge Cyrus Reed, who proves to be an amusing and steadfast companion. The final reveal and explanation of the mystery might not explain every last thing, but it is also possible that I read too quickly and missed things. It is a very quick book and can be read in an afternoon. It's probably a good idea to have at least the first book in the series under your belt, if only to be familiar with the characters. ( )

This is a nice, breezy, fun book. It is part of a series featuring an intrepid, grandmotherly-type CIA operative. Her assignment in this book is simply to photograph members of a safari. Naturally, this leads Mrs. Pollifax into danger - and adventure. ( )

Mrs. Emily Pollifax, a New Jersey widow, geranium grower, and occasional spy, has a new assignment from the CIA. An unknown assassin is expected to be among a safari party in Zambia. All Mrs. Pollifax needs to do is take pictures of everyone in the group and the CIA will do the rest. It sounds simple enough until Mrs. Pollifax encounters unexpected difficulties. She’ll have to use all of her considerable resources to get out of the situation alive.

Mrs. Pollifax has the strong personality of an Amelia Peabody combined with the sharp perception of a Miss Marple. The combination makes for entertaining armchair adventures. However, the book isn’t pure fluff. The action in the book takes place after Zambian independence and before Zimbabwean independence. The political situation in Rhodesia and the issue of apartheid form part of the context for the events in the book. There are also oblique references to the political turmoil in the U.S. surrounding the Watergate affair:

Carstairs asked me to tell you very firmly that his department has remained scrupulous to the letter in all its undertakings…At least as scrupulous as can be expected when our business is to gather information by nefarious means, hit troublesome people over the head, and indulge in other interesting forms of skullduggery.

Mrs. Pollifax, recalling certain people that she herself had been forced to hit over the head, did not comment; it was a very modest number, of course, but one of which she was sure neither her garden club nor her pastor would approve.( )

Mrs. Pollifax is given what seems like an easy and relatively danger-free assignment in this book. All she has to do is go on safari in Zambia and take lots of pictures of the people going on safari with her. For one of them is an assassin and having pictures of all suspects will make it easier for the CIA to figure out which one. However, since this involves Mrs. Pollifax, nothing goes as planned and she ends up in great danger – only this time, it does not seem to have anything to do with her current case, but with an old friend.

Reading this book means having a lovely trip through Zambia with Mrs. Pollifax. It’s clearly set in the 70s, considering the political situation in the country, but it in no way feels dated. There’s humor, a great cast of characters, and danger – exactly what I’ve come to expect from the Mrs. Pollifax books. The story is great, and it has nice twists and turns – both with the case and on a more personal level for Mrs. Pollifax. But I do have the feeling that the situations Mrs. Pollifax finds herself in get more dangerous with every book – like as if now that she’s got more experience, the danger level is adjusted accordingly. The series seems to be maturing, and that’s a good thing. ( )

"Mrs. Pollifax is the American cousin to Agatha Christie's Miss Marple."TORONTO STARMrs. Pollifax has been sent on safari by the C.I.A. and told only to take pictures of all of her companions, in order to find the international assassin whose next target is the president of Zambia. It sounded so simple, but shortly after Mrs. Pollifax started taking pictures, someone stole her film. And right after that she was kidnapped by Rhodesian terrorists. And right after that--well, read for yourself....